All the Difference
by PrairieLily
Summary: An emotionally difficult case affects the entire team, but one member in particular. Sequel to The Road Less Travelled By posted here on the site. I STRONGLY RECOMMEND READING THAT ONE FIRST. It's VERY short! Chapters 9 of 9 posted, COMPLETE.
1. The Nick of Time

**Title:** _All the Difference_

**Rating:** T for language and theme

**Disclaimer:** Gibbs, Tony, McGee, Ziva, Ducky, Palmer, and Kate are not my characters. The others are my creation. Any names used are intended in a fictional sense and any similarities to real persons living or otherwise is strictly coincidental.

**Summary:** A difficult case affects the entire team, but one member in particular, in unexpected ways.

**Pairings:**. This isn't technically a shipper story though, as it primarily centres on the team working a case, however,** Jasmine/Palmer** are mentioned, and **McGee/Abby** is strongly implied.

**Author's Note:** This is intended as an extended sequel to **"The Road Less Travelled By,"** which is a single chapter short fic centred on Jimmy Palmer, and is posted here. http/ I would strongly suggest a few moments to read it before reading this one, just for background and to avoid the inevitable "who the hell is THAT?" I promise it's very short and takes just a few minutes to read. :)

**Author's Other Note:** The title of this fic, and a quote at the end is in reference to my favourite poem, "The Road Not Taken," by the wonderfully gifted writer Robert Frost. I make no claim to his words, but am nevertheless grateful for his eloquence. No infringement is intended.

* * *

**The Nick of Time**

Gibbs closed his eyes briefly as he hung up the phone.

"We've got bodies, a Marine and his family."

McGee looked up, startled. "And his _family_, Boss?"

Tony also looked up, but said nothing, his eyes expressing enough shock without having to voice the words.

"McGee, gas the truck," Gibbs said, tossing the keys to the stunned junior agent. Tim was already standing up when he reached out and snatched the keys from mid-air.

Tony grabbed his weapon from his desk drawer and holstered it as he watched McGee do the same, and leave quickly for the garage. He looked at Gibbs, but the older man offered up no other explanation as they headed towards the elevator.

……………………………………………………………………………

Ducky and Palmer arrived quickly at the house.

What they were met with would haunt them both, for a long, long time.

Staff Sergeant Mark Tennant, off duty and in civilian clothing, bludgeoned to death in the middle of his living room. The apparent weapon sat on the floor, seemingly carelessly cast aside.

His wife, in the kitchen, apparently strangled.

Palmer paled as he swallowed hard, knowing that this couple had a young daughter. He looked at Ducky, who simply gave him a sad look of resignation. He crouched down, taking a liver temp on the woman. "She's been dead, I would say… less than 3 hours." Ducky raised an eyebrow as he checked the thermometer. "Indeed."

Palmer stood as he walked carefully around the house, watching as Tony sketched and McGee took pictures. He watched Gibbs and Ziva carefully look over the house, searching for elusive clues.

He stepped into the dining room, and stopped dead in his tracks.

There she was.

The entire team knew from pictures and cards displayed around the home that the little girl's name was Emily. She couldn't have been more than 5 or 6 years old, by the look of her.

He walked cautiously over to her, careful to take pictures first, trying to ignore the flashes of memory that were assaulting his consciousness, then crouched down and touched her cheek with his gloved hand. She seemed so peaceful, almost as if she were only sleeping. In fact, she seemed strangely warm to the touch. "Oh, Michaela," he said softly, his voice filled with regretful sorrow. He looked up as McGee and Tony saw him and approached. "Actually Palmer, her name is Emily," Tony said, looking oddly at McGee, who simply shrugged. McGee's green eyes suddenly grew wide with comprehension as he realized what Palmer had just said, but he remained silent anyway.

The three men all swallowed back angry bile as they took note of the deep, telltale bruises on her neck, and Palmer gently brushed her hair aside to take a closer look. He thought he knew what he'd see when he opened her eyelids - the telltale petechial hemorrhaging that was indicative of strangulation. What he wasn't prepared for was to see her pupils contract as the sudden assault of light hit them.

He gasped and sat back quickly.

"Dr. Mallard!" he called out, nearly frantic with shock and urgency, as he leaned forward and checked for a pulse and breathing.

"What?" Tony asked, as McGee's jaw dropped slightly and his eyes grew wide.

"Agent DiNozzo, this little girl is still alive."


	2. Their Smallest Witness

**Their Smallest Witness**

The four agents watched on anxiously as Ducky worked on the small girl, with help from Palmer.

"It's a miracle this child is still alive," Ducky muttered. "Her neck is deeply bruised. God only knows how she managed to survive this."

"Does it really matter now, Doctor?" Palmer said, almost absently, as he worked intently. "She's alive. That's what counts. We weren't too late this time."

McGee and Gibbs helped to load her on to the gurney when the ambulance arrived, and Ducky took note of Palmer's expression as the doors were slammed shut and the emergency vehicle pulled away in a blaze of sirens and flashing lights.

"Jimmy, you said, we weren't too late this time. What exactly did you mean by that? Is there something wrong, my boy?" Ducky asked him quietly, gently pulling him aside.

Palmer blinked. "Not anymore." His boss and mentor looked at him, not convinced at all.

"It's a long story, Dr. Mallard. Maybe… maybe it's time to tell you. It has to do with why I'm here, doing what I do. But it has to wait until we've gotten her parents home." Ducky nodded, as McGee approached. "You're ready to take them out, Duck?"

Ducky nodded. "Yes, Timothy. You can get to work here soon." Ducky took on a thoughtful look, pulling McGee aside.

"Timothy, since Jimmy has been seeing your sister, has he talked to you much, about things?"

"Uh… what sort of things, Ducky?"

"Himself, his past, for example. Why he's here."

McGee nodded. "I see. Yeah, actually, he has. It came up one night after a difficult case. But it's really not my place to say. You'll have to hear it from him, Ducky."

The older man nodded. "Of course, Timothy." McGee turned as Tony called him over, and he reached over and patted Ducky's arm as he turned to walk over to where Tony was.

……………………………………………………………………………

Abby and Ziva walked into Emily's hospital room, and glanced at each other.

What kind of monstrous bastard could do this to a child?

They glanced back at Gibbs, who stood in the doorway. Ziva and Abby were here to collect physical evidence, and to see if Emily could talk yet.

They had, in this tiny little girl, their only surviving witness to this double - almost triple - murder.

The thought burdened Gibbs. That meant that she could still be in danger. If whomever had tried to strangle her to death found out that he had failed the first time, he might come back for a second try at it.

That wasn't going to happen. Not in this lifetime. Not if Jethro Gibbs had anything to do with it.

He realized, also, that his agents were equally aware of how important it was to keep an eye on Emily. McGee and Tony had both seemed on edge, almost paternally angry at whoever had done this. Gibbs had never seen his boys quite so intense before. Ziva was subdued, almost as if she were forcing herself to keep her temper in check. It wasn't until he'd seen her enter Emily's hospital room with Abby, that he knew she'd managed to reel her emotions in. But still, he couldn't help himself - he almost wished that their killer would step forward, dared him to walk right into the sight picture of any one of their Sigs.

Ducky was more professional, on the outside, but Gibbs knew his old friend, and he knew better. And Palmer was clearly very deeply affected by it, but why that was exactly, Gibbs had no idea. He just knew that he'd never seen Palmer quite this intense before, either. It was almost as if Jimmy were… haunted by something.

Gibbs glanced over as Abby carefully approached Emily's side. "Hey baby girl," she said softly. "Don't be scared, we're not here to hurt you. I'm Abby, and this is Ziva, okay?" The little girl was unable to speak yet, due to the injuries to her throat, but she nodded anyway. Abby smiled warmly at her, as she gently took her hand and began to collect scrapings from under her fingernails. Ziva brushed her cheek gently with a gloved hand, as she gathered the little girl's hair in her other hand, and prepared to comb it out carefully.

Gibbs turned as he sensed eyes watching from behind.

He wasn't the least bit surprised to find Tony and McGee standing there, with concerned expressions on their faces.

"She needs to be watched over, Boss," Tony said. "We're volunteering for protection duty. We'll take turns." Gibbs looked at him, then glanced at McGee as the younger man said, "That bastard tries to get anywhere near her, all he'll find is the business end of our weapons."

Gibbs took each of them by the arm as he led them outside. "Guys, she can't stay here forever. I think we're gonna have to take her back to NCIS with us once she's released. You boys up for extended babysitting detail?"

Tony glanced at McGee, who raised an eyebrow and turned his head slightly. "We're up for keeping that little girl safe and alive, Boss," Tony said, with finality. McGee nodded in agreement, and said, "For how ever long it takes."


	3. A Blue Blaze of Evidence

**Blue Blaze of Evidence**

"What have you got, Abs?" Tony asked, as he strolled into the lab with McGee in tow.

"Finger paint. Came from the scrapings from Emily's fingernails. Cobalt blue, from what I can tell. I'm running analyses to determine what's in it, what brand it is, where it's manufactured, and where it's sold."

"Anything else?" McGee asked, hopefully. Abby looked at him, with a sly grin. "Well, since you mentioned it, Very Special Agent McGee," she said coyly, as Tony rolled his eyes heavenward, "Ziva found some hairs on Emily's clothing, and she combed one out of her hair as well."

"And you know it isn't Emily's hair… how?" Tony asked. This time it was McGee who rolled his eyes. "Because, Emily is strawberry blonde, and these hairs are chestnut brown. The bad news is, that's a common shade. The good news is, Emily had some of that same hair in her little fist. She fought back, and hard."

"And?" McGee asked, gazing imploringly at Abby. "And, because she ripped it out… the skin tags were intact. That means DNA. That's the good news. The bad news is, there are no matches in any of the DNA databases. It's a totally unknown sample."

"But, it's a start, right?" Tony was beginning to sound desperate to find out who'd done this.

"Okay, there is one other thing."

She waited a moment, savouring having both Tony and McGee gaze at her expectantly, like sweet little boys waiting for a promised treat.

"Not what you're expecting, I know… but the hair from Emily's fist is female."

……………………………………………………………………………

Ducky had no idea where his assistant had gotten to.

He had a suspicion, but that's all it really was. The fact of the matter was, Jimmy was absent from autopsy, and Ducky didn't know why.

Then he remembered. Jethro had gone to the hospital, to retrieve Emily and bring her back to NCIS, so that she could be properly protected by his team of agents. Most likely, Jimmy had gone with him.

Ducky thought back sadly to what Jimmy had told him, when they'd gotten home with Emily's parents. He'd had no idea that that was why the young man had chosen this rather unusual path. But it made perfect sense, knowing what he knew about him, from the time he'd spent working with Jimmy Palmer.

Ducky took a deep breath and let it out slowly, then headed upstairs to the squad room.

When he arrived upstairs, he was just in time to see Jethro enter the squad room through the elevator, carrying a sleepy little girl, and closely flanked by one formerly-UA Morgue Assistant.

Palmer blushed slightly. "Sorry, Doctor. I should have told you I was going with Agent Gibbs."

Ducky smiled reassuringly. "No worries, my boy. I had pretty much guessed where you had gone, that is to say, you went to provide a medical escort for Jethro when he went to retrieve little Emily from the hospital. A wise decision."

"I'll be sure to let you know first, if it ever happens again," Jimmy said. Ducky nodded as he turned around, steering Jimmy towards the elevator. "Another wise decision, Mr. Palmer," he said, as they walked towards the doors.

"McGee, come take her for a minute, will you?" Gibbs said. McGee looked up, surprised, then stood up and walked over.

"She been sleeping long?" he asked the boss. Gibbs shook his head. "She's knocked out. The doctor thought it best to tranquilize her before we took her. Less trauma for her that way. He said it would wear off soon though."

McGee nodded, as Gibbs handed her over. "Now what, Boss?"

"Now, you watch over her until it's Tony's turn. Then it's Ziva's turn. Then it's mine. Then it's yours again. Got it, McGee?"

The young man nodded. "Got it, Boss. Wow, she's no bigger than a minute, is she?" he asked, as he cradled her carefully but easily. Gibbs shook his head. "All the more reason to be extra conscientious with this protection detail, Tim." McGee turned and returned to his desk, carefully positioning the small girl in his lap so that he could continue working. "Abby has some news for us, by the way," he said softly, not wanting to disturb Emily.

Gibbs looked up. "Well? Spit it out, McGee." McGee spat it out, and Gibbs sat, stunned. "She's sure it's female?"

McGee looked over as Tony and Ziva entered the squad room and sat down at their desks.

"Abby likes to say, DNA doesn't lie, Boss." Gibbs frowned. Tony cleared his throat carefully. "Boss, if we look at the crime scene, it kind've makes sense. I mean, Emily and her mother were both strangled. But the Staff Sergeant was bludgeoned to death. It's a less hands-on method. Maybe whoever killed Emily's parents bit off more than they could chew with her father. So they used a weapon on him. Strangulation wasn't an option."

Ziva looked thoughtful. "This would seem to indicate that the killer was either a woman, or a small, slightly built man. But the hair that Abby and I found on Emily was female."

McGee paled. "What kind of woman could do this to…? he asked, not wanting to finish the sentence, and instead pointing to the young child sleeping in his arms. Gibbs shook his head. "A heartless one. They do exist, you know, Tim. Not all women are all soft and sweet and nurturing. Trust me on that."

They all looked up as they heard the elevator doors open, and Abby breezed in. "Found something else. Or rather, Ziva found something else. You know that fibre that was stuck in her hair, with the blue substance? We already know the blue substance was finger paint. The fibre is from a sweater. A cashmere sweater, to be exact."

"This paint, is it permanent once it dries?" Tony asked. Abby nodded. "Most paints are, even if they're non-toxic and water based. We're looking for an avocado green cashmere sweater with one blazing blue stain on it."


	4. Peaceful Slumber

**Peaceful Slumber**

Gibbs looked up from his computer and was startled to find the hour was so late. He was only slightly less startled to find his entire team, plus one small girl, fast asleep at their desks.

Well, it wasn't the first sleepover they'd had in the squad room. Odds were, it wouldn't be the last.

He smiled as he looked around. McGee sat forward in his chair, leaning on his desk, his head resting on his arms. Without the stress of wakefulness etching Tim's brow, he thought, his youngest agent truly did look childlike. He shifted his gaze to Tony. His senior agent sat back, his feet up on the desk, reclined in his chair. His jacket was draped over his chest, with his arms tucked snugly underneath, and he wore his shades - presumably to block out any light that might disturb his beauty rest. Gibbs chuckled softly at this, then turned to look to Ziva. The Mossad officer sat in her chair, and like Tony, her feet were also up on her desk. But underneath her jacket there lay Emily, cradled protectively in her arms. When Gibbs thought about it, he thought, for a moment, that maybe he did remember hearing a soft lullaby coming from the direction of Ziva's desk. But it didn't seem like Ziva's voice, the way Gibbs remembered it. Then he recalled, Palmer had visited them in the squad room before heading home. It must have been him who had softly sung the lullaby.

Whatever it was that Jimmy had done, it had knocked out his entire team. Gibbs grinned to himself. So he was right - he really_was_ in charge of a daycare. He looked over as McGee shifted slightly, and softly sighed in his sleep. He wondered what the young man was dreaming of, then realized it was probably Abby, and as such, figured the less he knew, the better. Gibbs sat back, crossing his arms and reclining in his chair, and let the soft white noise of the clocks and computer fans lull him to sleep.


	5. Jazzy's Wrong Conclusion

**Author's Note:** I just noticed this - I forgot to include Abby in my disclaimer at the start of Chapter 1! She's not mine either! Too bad you can't edit chapters once they're posted without having to do them all over again, lol!

* * *

**Jazzy's Wrong Conclusion**

Tony looked up from his pile of paperwork when Jasmine McGee walked into the squad room.

Probie's little sister did not look happy. In fact, she seemed on the verge of tears.

_Okay,_ Tony thought to himself, _I hope Palmer's got a good place to hide and a new identity ready to roll. _Then he shook his head. Nobody had said it had anything to do with Palmer. Tony watched as she approached McGee's desk, and the younger agent looked up.

"Jazzy? What's wrong?" McGee stood up and walked around his desk, wrapping his sister up in an embrace.

"Is there somewhere we can talk?" Tony couldn't help the look of concern that crossed his face. McGee was almost like a brother… almost. And that made Jaz almost like a sister… almost.

McGee quietly nodded, then steered her towards the elevator. He gave Tony a warning glance and said simply, "Stay away from autopsy, Tony." Tony frowned. Now, how did he know what he was thinking?

When the McGee siblings had reached the elevator and entered through the doors, they waited for them to close, and McGee reached over and hit the switch.

"Jazzy… what's wrong?"

She seemed almost hesitant. "It's Jimmy. He seems so, I don't know… distant lately. I think he's losing interest in me." McGee nodded, as he reached over and brushed away a tear from her cheek. "I see. How long has he been like this?"

Jasmine sighed sadly, and sniffed. "About a week, I guess." McGee closed his eyes. He knew exactly what was wrong.

He cleared his throat and thought about how much he could actually say, before speaking. "Jaz, I don't think it's you. I think it's the case we've got right now." She frowned at him, her brow furrowing and her lips turning down. "It's hard to explain… how much has he told you about himself?"

Jasmine shrugged. "Quite a lot, I guess. Sometimes we _do_ talk, in front of my fireplace."

McGee smiled at this, briefly, then his expression grew sombre. "Jazzy… does the name Michaela O'Farrell mean anything to you?" His sister paled a moment, and she slowly nodded. "Yeah. Oh, my God, Tim. This case… it involves a child?"

He nodded. "She didn't die though. She came very, very close. But she survived. Jimmy is just really… he's really intent on helping us solve this case. I think he sees it as a chance to absolve the past, somewhat. Maybe even do for Emily what he couldn't do for Michaela. I mean, I know he was just a little kid back then, but still… the memories are there."

McGee sighed inwardly as his sister's expression morphed from one of despair, to one of relief. "Well, now that I know, you're probably right. And I can be patient," she said, with resolve. "I think he and I are gonna have to have a little chat, though." McGee nodded, saying, "Probably a good idea. I'd hate to have to hurt him without justification." He grinned, just to reassure her that he was joking, and Jasmine hugged him, and said, "Thanks Timmy. I knew I could count on you." He smiled at her as he reached over and hit the switch again, bringing the stalled elevator back to life.

"I'm gonna head downstairs," she said, as he stepped out of the elevator. "See you later."

McGee nodded, and reached out to stop the closing doors for a moment. "Go easy on him, Jazzy. Don't forget, we can't always talk about our cases outside of NCIS. He was probably just maintaining that confidentiality. He has a responsibility with his job, so do I. I probably told you too much, but I know I can trust you." Jasmine smiled, and nodded. "I understand," she said. She gave his arm a squeeze and then gave him a gentle shove out of the elevator. He smiled briefly with satisfaction and relief, then turned on his heel and went back to his desk.

Tony looked up. "Palmer still alive?"

McGee laughed softly. "Yeah, he's still alive. Not his fault, entirely. He and my sister are simply victims of circumstance. And NCIS regulations."

Tony wasn't sure he understood Probie's rather cryptic statement, but thought he could wrangle an explanation out of him sooner or later, so he let the matter drop as he simply nodded, "Ah," and turned his attention back to the mountain of paper that sat in front of him.


	6. Narrowing the Theories

**Narrowing the Theories**

"I've traced the finger paint to a company that manufactures art supplies for pre-school and primary school supply stores," Abby announced, as Gibbs walked into the lab. "That particular company supplies two stores in the D.C. area."

Gibbs grinned. "Good work, Abs," as he handed over the fresh cup of Caf-Pow. Abby smiled triumphantly. "McGee is working on finding out which schools are supplied by these stores, and who teaches at them."

Gibbs nodded. "Anything else on the sweater?" Abby sighed. "Nothing. It's turning out to be a bit hard to trace."

Abby looked over and smiled warmly as McGee strolled into the lab and joined them. "Boss, Ziva just handed Emily off to Tony. She didn't need much convincing. He went on an ice-cream run first." Gibbs nodded in acknowledgement, smiled and said, "Little bribery never hurts," then turned back to Abby. "Anything else?" he asked.

"Well, we found dog hair on Emily's clothing. Her parents' as well. But no dog."

McGee nodded. "Yeah, that's right. There was evidence of a family dog, food bowls, leashes, toys, and such… but I don't remember seeing a dog. Not even in the back yard, and it was fenced in."

"Near as I can tell, it's a beagle," Abby said, as Palmer peeked around the corner. "Guys, DNA confirms that both of Emily's parents were definitely her parents."

Abby frowned. "Well, there goes one theory." Gibbs glanced at her, curious. Abby elaborated, "Angry wife of unfaithful husband, who fathered a child with another woman. Would have been a classic motive."

Gibbs and McGee both appeared perplexed. "Why is Palmer here?" Gibbs asked. Abby shrugged. "You know how intense he is about this case. And he and Ducky finished the post-mortems on Emily's parents. He's done all he can do in autopsy. So he's here. Frankly, I really don't mind. This is a really hard case to work. From an emotional standpoint, I mean. It's nice to have a friend around who understands how hard it is."

McGee nodded sadly in agreement, then said, "What do we know about the Staff Sergeant?" Gibbs levelled a glare at him. "I don't know, McGee. What _do_ we know about the Staff Sergeant?" McGee sighed. "On it, Boss," he said, as he turned and left the lab. "Oh, by the way," McGee said, as if suddenly remembering why he'd gone to the lab in the first place. "There are two pre-schools in the area of the base, both get their supplies from the same store. One of them employs the widow of a Marine who died three years ago in a friendly fire incident. Her name is Sofia Maddox."

Their attention suddenly turned around the corner as Palmer called out, "Abby! I think I've got a print on this painting of Emily's that we took from the house. The blue one, with the smudge."

Abby grinned again. "Good work, Jimmy!" she said with enthusiasm, as her Caf-Pow started to kick in full force. "Back to the old grind, guys," she said, as she bounced over to see what Jimmy had found.

Gibbs was about to tell McGee to check on fingerprints taken for background checks on the pre-school employees, when McGee said, "I'll check for fingerprints with the pre-schools. They do background checks before they hire people." Gibbs grinned to himself. Nothing like an on-foot trip through a car wash to teach a good, solid lesson in anticipation.

……………………………………………………………………………

Tony sat, Emily on his lap, thinking intently. He seemed to neither notice, nor mind, that she had dripped pralines n' cream ice cream on his desk, in spite of her best efforts to be as neat and dainty with her treat as a 5 year old could be.

He looked up as McGee and Gibbs returned from the lab. "That dead Marine, he had a life-insurance policy. The wife cashed in when he died, but there's absolutely no evidence that his death was anything but an accident. So much for the fraud angle."

"We know he was killed by friendly fire. How did he die, and who was responsible?" Gibbs was far from finished with pressing his Agents' noses to the grindstone.

Tony did a quick search, then glanced at Emily. "Uh, Boss… I think our little girl should go visit Abby and Palmer in the lab, for awhile." Gibbs walked over to Tony's desk and glanced at the monitor.

"Tim," he said suddenly, an odd tone in his voice. "You got that print search started yet?"

McGee looked up. Gibbs' tone gave him chills - he hadn't sounded like that since the night Kate had died. "Just getting started, Boss… why?" Gibbs looked at him, motioning him over. "Before you get into that, take Emily down to the lab. Maybe Jimmy would like to spend some time with her." McGee arrived at Tony's desk and glanced at the monitor, and his expression changed into one of terrible comprehension. "On it. C'mere Sweetness," he said to Emily, as he reached for her. She looked up at him, smiling, and outstretched her arms towards him. He plucked her out of Tony's lap and headed towards the elevator, talking softly to her all the while.

When they'd disappeared behind the closing doors, Gibbs turned back to Tony's computer screen.

The Marine investigated in the accidental friendly-fire death of Gunnery Sergeant Daniel Maddox, was Staff Sergeant Mark Tennant.


	7. Slowly Finding Peace

**Slowly Finding Peace**

"He was cleared after a pretty thorough investigation. It happened stateside, in a live-fire training exercise. They concluded that the accident was unavoidable, and Maddox was not where he was supposed to be. He inadvertently put himself in the line of fire, and died as a result, when Tennant hurled a grenade into an area that was supposed to be clear." Tony sounded grim, even as he read his findings to his teammates.

McGee looked up, nodding. "I think the pieces are starting to come together here. I have prints for all the employees, past and present, for the last 10 years. Both schools. I'll get these down to Abby," he said, as he got up to leave. "There aren't any with the surname of Maddox, but there are four from the past 10 years with the given name of either Sofia, or Sophie."

Ziva looked up. "Maddox was being treated for depression, and he and his wife were in marriage counselling. He was not a happy man by any stretch. Is it possible it wasn't an accident after all?"

Tony looked at her. "You mean, suicide by friendly fire? That's cold, Ziva."

Ziva shrugged, with an expression of, "You tell me."

……………………………………………………………………………

Abby was diligently comparing fingerprints when Jimmy approached her from behind. He cleared his throat by way of a warning, so as not to startle her, and said, "Abby?"

She looked up from her work, then swivelled around on her chair. "Yeah?" Jimmy handed her a printout. "I've traced the Tennant's dog through the city's dog registry. Her name is Riley, she is indeed an AKC registered beagle, and she has a tattooed id number on the inside of her ear. If we can find her, we may have found our killer."

"Talk about a needle in a haystack," Abby muttered. Jimmy sighed. "I know. But finding the dog would just be one more piece of evidence. The sweater, with a set-in blue paint stain. Maybe scratch marks… we know that Emily fought back, maybe she scratched her killer as well as pulling out her hair. DNA for comparison to the DNA evidence we found on Emily… Other things we're figuring out. The pieces are coming together, Abby."

McGee strolled into the lab. "He's right. And now we have a connection between the widow of a dead Marine, who works in a pre-school, and the Tennant family. Any luck with the prints, Abs?"

"Not yet," Abby answered, going back to work. "But I've only compared two of your Sofia/Sophie's." McGee walked up to her, resting a hand casually on her back. "I've got a feeling about this, Abs. I think we're closing in on our killer."

Jimmy nodded. "I think you're right."

Abby looked up, suddenly, and muttered, with her voice dripping venom, "That coldblooded _bitch_." McGee and Jimmy looked at her, expectantly. "Got her," she said, holding up a sheet. Timmy, get this up to Tony and Ziva. You guys need to go have a little chatsie with Sofia Maddox, nee Scarabelli."

McGee glanced at her. "Abs, I knew there was a reason I love you!" Jimmy grinned as McGee bent down and gave Abby a big kiss on the cheek." She giggled, and called after his rapidly departing form, "Hey, save some of that for later, Timmy! And I love you too!"

Her smile slowly faded as she looked over at her temporary assistant. "We're almost there, aren't we?" Jimmy asked her. Abby put a hand on his shoulder and gazed up at him. "Yeah, Jimmy. I think we are. You do realize, you were only 7 when Michaela died?"

Jimmy glanced down at his feet for a moment, then looked back at Abby. "Yeah, I know. I know I couldn't have done anything to help her. But Emily, maybe I can help."

"Emily… you _have_ helped. I hope this can give you some peace," she said, as she wrapped her arms around him in a friendly hug.

He clung to her for a moment, then said, "I think, maybe… it already is." Jimmy smiled down at her as she removed her arms from around his shoulders.

"Now, I think we've earned some of that ice cream. Ziva said she put ours in the freezer in the break room. Provided Tony hasn't found it," she said, dragging him out of the lab with a grin. Jimmy chuckled. "I'm surprised it even survived the trip back to NCIS with him," he said, as their voices faded behind the closing doors.


	8. Conclusive Evidence

**Conclusive Evidence**

Tony, McGee, and Ziva watched through the observation window as Gibbs sat, staring steadily at Sofia Maddox.

"That bastard killed my husband," she maintained. "Why should I forget that just because those morons who investigated the incident found him to be innocent of stupidity and gross negligence. For all I know, he killed my Danny on purpose."

McGee shook his head. "Abby was right. That is one coldblooded bitch." Tony glanced over at him as Ziva raised her eyebrows slightly. "Amen, brother," he muttered to his younger colleague.

"The investigation was conclusive, Mrs. Maddox. Mark Tennant did not knowingly or purposefully kill your husband."

"Bastards. Protecting their own, no doubt." Gibbs wondered if he would ever understand what was making this woman tick. He looked in her eyes, wondering if he'd see lingering grief, burning anger. Instead, what he found were the dead eyes of a being who could very well be capable of not only killing two adults, but attempting the murder of a little girl, as well. He stopped himself from elaborating on that thought. They knew nothing about her yet, and their comparative evidence was still pending, until the search warrant came through. But he did take note of what appeared to be dog hairs on her sweater.

"Do you have a dog, Mrs. Maddox?"

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?"

"Nothing, really. I just noticed you have dog hair on your sweater. They're wonderful companions, aren't they. But they love to leave themselves behind on you."

Sofia Maddox glared at him. "If you must know, yes, I do have a dog. A beagle. Named Riley."

……………………………………………………………………………

The team approached Sofia Maddox's house, warrant in hand. Tony paused as he felt something on his shoe, then groaned with disgust as he looked down to see what it was.

"She definitely has a dog," McGee said casually, as he wrinkled his nose and suppressed a loud snort of amusement.

As they entered the house, they took note of a trail of dog toys, leading towards a doggie bed. Ziva grinned as she crouched down, calling out, "Riley! Here girl!" The clicking sound of claws on hard wood floors soon echoed through the empty house, as the happy beagle approached the four agents, tail wagging and beagle butt swaying.

"McGee, you got that id number that Palmer found?" Gibbs asked. McGee brought it up on his PDA, and called it out to Ziva, who had the beagle's ear in her hand, absently scratching it and comparing the tattooed number on her ear to the one that Tim was giving her.

"Gentlemen, I present to you one Riley Tennant. Registered American Kennel Club beagle."

"Keep looking," Gibbs ordered. "Check the laundry, the trash, the works. See if there's a green sweater kicking around."

"Boss?" McGee called out, as he searched the desk. "I've got a set of finger paints here. The basic colours. Looks like there's no blue though. The jars seem to match the jar of paint we found at the Tennant house."

"Bag them, take them to Abby. See if she can match them by manufacturer. But I think we know she can."

"A-ha!" Tony was heard calling out, from the laundry room. He came out, with a look of triumph on his face. "In the trash, one righteously ruined khaki green cashmere sweater, from Macy's." McGee grinned at him. "Actually Tony, it's avocado green. But I bet you're right about the shade of that blue stain."

Tony grinned. "Cobalt blue. I'd bet my favourite Armani tie on it. But that's not all I have," he said. "Check this little baby out."

He held up a cream coloured lacy bra. The other three agents held back commentary when Tony pointed out three small stains. "I'd bet my other favourite Armani tie that these are blood stains, seeped through the sweater."

Gibbs nodded. "Bag them. Good work, guys."


	9. The Right Road

**The Right Road**

Afterwards, they sat back in the break room, waiting for Emily's Aunt to come pick her up. The case had been solved, the killer had been caught, and they all looked a little less haunted.

Jimmy Palmer, especially. Jasmine was delighted to have him call her up and invite her to dinner. "I've got some lost time to make up for," he said, sheepishly. She had sounded relieved when she accepted the invitation, but suggested that instead of going out for dinner, they order in, and spend some "quality time" in front of her fireplace. Jimmy was long since beyond blushing at this point in their relationship, but he readily agreed to her suggestion. He was just grateful she was a patient and understanding woman.

Gibbs thought back to what they'd found out from Sofia Maddox's confession.

She had harboured rage towards Mark Tennant for three years, convinced somehow that he had murdered her husband under the cover of a friendly fire accident. When she realized that there was a possibility that her husband had deliberately put himself in the line of fire, she feared that the life insurance she'd collected upon the determination of Daniel's cause of death was in jeopardy.

She had gone to the Tennant's house, with the intention of finding out just what exactly Mark Tennant knew about Daniel's death.

She discovered, to her horror, that Mark had already concluded, through many sleepless nights, that Daniel had killed himself at the hands of a fellow Marine.

Fearing that Mark would let it slip that Daniel's death may very well have been a suicide, she decided, in a flash of bad judgement, to shut him up for good.

But she hadn't bargained on his wife and daughter being home.

Mrs. Tennant had walked in at just the wrong moment. In a fit of fear and rage, Sofia had launched herself at the unsuspecting woman, wrapping her hands around her throat and squeezing until the woman had sunk to the floor, dead.

Then, she remembered Emily.

She carefully crept into the dining room, where the little girl sat, working on a painting with a jar of blue finger paint that Sofia had given to her out of her own set, in her last week as Emily's pre-school teacher.

Sofia had approached her carefully from behind, but Emily had sensed her presence and turned around. The little girl's sudden movement had startled her former teacher, and Sofia briefly lost her balance, and reached for the table to steady herself. In the process, she had neatly placed two of her fingers on Emily's artwork, leaving behind a print, and inavertently leaning the cuff of her sweater in the wet paint.

When she had brought her hands up to Emily's throat, the paint and cashmere fibres had transferred to Emily's long hair. Emily fought back frantically, reaching up and grabbing a fistful of hair in her small hand. She passed out long before she was dead, however, and Sofia, glad to have it over with, had hastily left, taking the dog with her, and not bothering to check that her final victim was indeed, dead.

Gibbs was brought back to reality as Emily approached him. "Thank you for looking after me, Agent Gibbs," she whispered hoarsely. Gibbs smiled at her. "You come visit us sometime honey, promise?" The sad little girl nodded, then wrapped her arms around him, as he kissed the top of her head. She turned to McGee and wrapped her arms around his neck as well, as he whispered, "Seeya, Sweetness. Come back soon?" She nodded at him and smiled, as he quickly kissed her temple, then she turned to Tony. "There's always plenty of ice cream for you here, squirt," he said to her, as he embraced her and softly kissed her cheek. Abby opened her arms and welcomed the little girl next. "We're gonna miss you, baby girl," she said sadly, hugging her tightly. Next she turned to Ziva, who reached down and wrapped her arms around her, saying nothing, but sniffing quietly as she stroked her hair gently, a single tear rolling down her cheek. "Don't forget to come visit, Emily," she finally managed to say. Ducky crouched down next, and said, "Remember the trick I showed you?" Emily smiled and nodded. "Good, because I expect you to practice and show me the next time you're here, my dear girl." He embraced her and kissed her cheek.

Then, she turned to Jimmy. He reached down and picked her up, holding her tightly. "Whenever you can't sleep, just call me, okay? I'll always have a lullaby for you." Emily smiled up at him. "Okay, Jimmy," she whispered softly. He softly kissed her cheek, closing his eyes briefly. Abby smiled to herself as she saw a peaceful look pass over his dark eyes when he opened them again.

He set her down as her Aunt arrived in the doorway.

"She's all set," Gibbs said, his voice a little thicker than he'd have liked. "Thanks for giving us a chance to say goodbye."

"Of course, Agent Gibbs," the woman said, smiling. "I see she's very fond of all of you. I'm sure my husband won't mind if she wants to come visit you here, once in a while. I know I don't mind."

They all watched as Emily left them, turning and waving her small hand in farewell, and Ducky glanced at Jimmy, who sat with a small, peaceful smile on his boyish face.

Ducky sat back, watching the others leave to get back to work, then quietly quoted Robert Frost.

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference."

"What was that, Doctor?" Jimmy asked, looking at him curiously.

"For what it's worth, Mr. Palmer, I believe you chose the right road."

Jimmy thought about this for a moment, then nodded, smiling slightly. "Thanks, Dr. Mallard. I think, maybe… Emily has helped Michaela to finally rest in peace. At least, in here, she has," he said, pointing towards his heart.

"Indeed, Jimmy, indeed," Ducky said softly, as he stood to leave. He reached out and clasped the younger man's shoulder, briefly. "Well, come on then. The bodies in the cooler await us, my boy."


End file.
